Five Minutes Late
by Ormandria
Summary: Sirius Black was suppose to go to dinner at the Potters. But he was running late and didn't make it on time.... A world can change in just five minutes. One Shot. Please R


_**Disclaimer:** I do not own Harry Potter orany characters associated with it whether from the books or movies. That honor belongs to JK Rowling and Warner Bros._

_**Ormandria**_

* * *

Five minutes late. That was all. Five minutes. Why does it always seem that the world as we know it goes nowhere until the moment you stop looking, then it all changes so drastically and there's nothing you can do about it?

The pain of such an event is sometimes enough to shatter even the strongest-willed men. And sometimes, just sometimes, it can change the whole world. The problem now, was that no one had bothered to ever tell Sirius Black that it was _his_ world that would be changing.

Sirius knew before he even finished walking up the drive that something was wrong. The door was ajar, while it was normally closed, and the lights turned on, but no sound escaped the house, save the lone cries of a baby.

Instinctively he looked for the tell-tale dark mark that normally would have been called into play above the house had the death-eaters been there. There was none. His heart pounding with fear Sirius lunged at the door, racing into the house.

It was a shambles. Chairs over-turned and the table where he would sometimes have dinner with James and Lily and his little god-son Harry, where he was suppose to have dined with them this very night, was cracked in two. The china cabinet in the corner had been totally destroyed with a blast and all that was left of the sofa was the inner-stuffing of the cushions and a burnt out frame.

His heart stopped almost completely at the sight of what lay beyond that singed destruction. A hand, immobile and white. Slowly edging forward, Sirius looked for the owner attached to it. His greatest fear realized as he saw the thick crop of black hair and then the all too familiar glasses of his best friend. James Potter lay on the floor, his eyes staring sightlessly up at the ceiling, his wand clutched defensively in his hand. Even in death though, James looked ready to fight with no sign of fear showing.

If only he hadn't been running late. Sirius reached his hand out against the wall to balance himself. He felt sick to his stomach. How could such a thing happen to James? To Lily? To Lily….

He thrust himself back onto his feet. Lily and Harry. They were here somewhere and possibly still alive. He could still hear Harry's wailing cries. With his footsteps more determined, Sirius steadied himself for almost anything and made his way down the corridor to the sounds of the howling child.

The noise was coming from the nursery. He opened the door, praying that he would find Lily and Harry, both in one piece and curled up against a back wall. He could save them both. Haul them out of there before anymore death-eaters showed up. It was the least he could do for James. However, as Sirius opened the door, he knew it was too late.

Lily's body was slumped to the floor, her face still wet from the tears that had streamed down it. Had she been crying over James, already dead? Or maybe it was because she feared Harry would be next. Her arms will still tightly wrapped as though she had died, holding Harry and a pile of what he assumed to be dirty robes was piled next to her.

For a moment Sirius thought he might vomit, but it quickly passed as he noticed his god-son. Harry sat on the floor, next to his mother, tugging on her arm and crying.

Sirius gasped in relief, his own eyes filling with tears at the sight of one-year-old Harry Potter tugging endlessly on his mother, trying to wake her up from her death sleep.

"Harry," Sirius whispered, almost afraid to break the silence that seemed to surround them and even seemed to drown out Harry's own pitiful cries. Harry stopped and looked up at his god-father, his eyes swimming with tears.

"Mama," he hiccupped. He turned and poked at her and looked up at Sirius again with pleading in his eyes. "Mama! Mama, Mama, Mama!" He turned back to his mother and once again started tugging at her.

Sirius gently lifted Harry up and held him while he kicked and screamed, even louder and harder then before.

"NO, NO, NO, NO, NO! MAMA! MAMA!"

"Shhh," Sirius cooed, trying to keep his own voice from cracking. He had to think. He had to get Harry out of here, before any other death-eaters came. Sirius stopped at the thought. Death-eaters. Where were the death-eaters? James was dead. Lily was dead. Yet Harry, little Harry Potter was still alive. Why? Why would they have spared him, when it was him that they were after to begin with?

Sirius looked around and felt his stomach recoil in horror as he looked, yet again, at the pile of robes on the floor near Lily's body. This time his eyes took in the finer details of the pile. They were not, as he initially thought, just some dirty robes that she might have been planning on cleaning. They were a dark midnight black with snakes and skulls in emerald green and silver thread inter woven on the sleeves and collar. An abandoned wand peeked out from the edges and Sirius suddenly realized what must have happened.

He quickly held Harry in front of him, pushing aside the child's own thick crop of black bangs. Sure enough, on little Harry's head was a deep gash in the shape of a lightning bolt. A thin trail of blood still trickling it, as even now Harry seemed more concerned with getting back to his mother then with the pain he must be in from the wound.

The wound though, confirmed what had been going through Sirius' thoughts. It had been no mere death-eater that had come and killed the Potters. It had in fact been Voldemort himself. It explained the sudden shift in magical power that Sirius had felt moments before he had landed in the Potters front yard.

A crash from the outer rooms sent Sirius flying to the wall in defense, his wand suddenly out. Even Harry stopped crying at the sudden noise. A painful cry, much like a wounded animal, filled the entire house and Sirius relaxed. It was only Hagrid. He must have just seen James body. That meant that Dumbledore, in all his wisdom, already knew what must have happened and had sent Hagrid to confirm or investigate it.

Sirius walked out to great the gentle giant, who was blubbering into a dirty handkerchief.

"Hagrid," Sirius said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"Sirius! Oh Sirius! Is Lily alri't?"

"No," Sirius looked back down the hall to the room where her body still lay. "He … I … I was too late…."

"Is tha? Is tha l'il 'arry? He's grown so big since I last saw're him." Hagrid began to wail again.

"Hagrid!" Sirius yelled, as Harry took up the pathetic wail. "Calm down or you'll get him even more worked up!"

"Well … He should be worked up now, shouldna he be?" Hagrid replied between sobs. "'is mum and dad are gone!"

"Which is why we should keep our heads about us. I'm going to take Harry back with him. He's my god-son and my responsibility." Sirius gazed at his fallen friend. "I owe him that much."

"I can't let you do tha' Sirius," Hagrid sniffled. "Only Dumbledore said I was to bring 'arry to him."

"But," Sirius stuttered. "But I'm his god-father. He should be with me."

"I've got to do what Dumbledore asked. You know 'im Sirius. If he wants 'arry, there's a good reason for it and we should do as he asks."

"You're right," Sirius sighed. "Tell you what though, take my motorcycle. It flies and will get you there faster then any other way." Sirius gave Harry a gentle kiss on the forehead before handing him over to Hagrid. It amazed him to see how tiny Harry was in comparison to Hagrid. Hagrid was easily able to hold Harry fully in one hand as he took the keys to Sirius' motorcycle in the other.

"So, um, what are you gonna do then?" Hagrid asked, wiping the tears from his own eyes.

"I'm going to find the person responsible for this mess. And I'm going to make them pay."

"Good luck, then." With that Hagrid bundled Harry against his chest and walked outside to pull himself onto the motorcycle that would take him to Dumblore and Harry to a new life.

Sirius watched as Hagrid flew up into the sky. His chest heaved with sadness and his fists clenched with rage. He hadn't said it to Hagrid, but he didn't need luck this time. He already knew who was responsible for this. After all, it had been he, Sirius, that had suggested to James and Lily that they switch to using _him_ for their secret-keeper. It had seemed logical at the time. Sirius was too obvious a choice, and even Lupin was a bit obvious as well. Not to mention that Lupin had his own problems to deal with at the moment. But Sirius had been _sure _that there was no way that anyone would think that James and Lily would use _him_. Which meant only one thing….

_He_ had betrayed James and Lily. _He_ had betrayed his friends. The people who had cared about him and loved him like a little brother._ He_ had killed them just as much as Voldemort had.

Sirius would find him. He'd track him down and make him pay. If all went well, then by dawning morning, Peter Pettigrew, known as Wormtail to the friends he had abandoned, would be dead. A death that he would find at the hands of Sirius Black.


End file.
